In the past few years, crypto derivative trading has taken off. There is another way to buy and hold cryptos that have appealed to traders who want to make the most out of price movements by using leverage.
However, there are risks associated with CFD trading, especially when it comes to cryptocurrency. In 2021, large exchanges had to cease operations due to regulatory issues leaving crypto derivatives traders with no place to trade. That’s where Eightcap, a multi-award-winning regulated CFD broker stepped in, with a fresh offering that stood out for its extensive range of crypto coins, crosses and indices, all paired with low spreads. On top of that, derivative traders with Eightcap have access to multiple funding options and super quick withdrawals.
We sat down with Marcus Fetherston, Head of Operations at Eightcap, to discuss the broker’s award-winning crypto derivative offering, the current trends in crypto, and to delve deeper into the problems derivative traders are facing. This is what he had to say.
With increasing volatility in the crypto market, why should people trade Crypto derivatives?
There hasn’t been a better time for derivative products, especially crypto. We have seen crypto assets move into downwards trends and sideways markets over the past year. Bitcoin has been reaching all-time highs, and we have witnessed crypto coins such as Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and Cardano also gain momentum in the markets. This has brought in an influx of traders who want to make the most out of crypto market movements. One of the ways to do this is through crypto derivatives, as it enables derivative traders to go long or short. Plus, the use of leverage on CFD accounts allows traders to take advantage of price fluctuations without the need to place large amounts of capital to enter the crypto derivatives market.
What are the current problems crypto derivative traders face?
There are several problems that crypto derivative traders have faced and are still facing when trading crypto CFDs. There has been a divergence of product offerings to meet the current demand for crypto trading. Many licensed entities now offer crypto CFDs while adhering to stringent regulatory requirements. However, even though there are a lot of crypto CFD providers, most of them have a lackluster product offering paired with wide spreads. So crypto derivative trades aren’t gaining exposure to a varied and extensive suite of crypto CFDs, and they aren’t getting the best price when it comes to trading derivatives. There are also centralized offshore exchanges that offer a great range of products to trade. Still, the flip side of the coin is that crypto derivative traders won’t have the peace of mind that they would have when trading with a regulated broker.
More recently, Binance encountered a glitch, which ultimately led to crypto derivative traders being unable to withdraw Dogecoin for two weeks. Earlier in the year, we had also seen Binance cease operations in regions such as Italy and Hong Kong. This left crypto derivatives traders feeling disgruntled and worried about their active trades and questioning where they could go to trade crypto derivatives.
Eightcap stepped in with a solution to the problems I have mentioned. In September 2021, we rolled out 250 crypto derivatives, including coins, crypto crosses and indices. We are continuing to meet crypto demand by adding more and more coins to our offering. Eightcap has been awarded the Best Crypto Broker at the 2021 AtoZ Markets annual awards due to our latest crypto derivative offering. We have an extensive suite, and with this, we also offer ultra-low spreads.
How does Eightcap’s Crypto derivative offering stand out from what other brokers and exchanges are offering?
Our offering stands out in the crypto derivatives market because of the extensive range of crypto derivatives available to our clients. As mentioned before, we have over 250 crypto derivatives and this includes Dogecoin, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polkadot, Cardano, Solana and more. We also offer crypto indices and crypto-crosses.
In addition to our award-winning offering, we are committed to being the new home of crypto derivatives traders. We aim to deliver ultra-low spreads with our entire crypto derivatives suite. Our clients can trade Bitcoin with spreads from 12p/coin, Cardano from 0.004 p/coin, Dogecoin from 0.0002 p/coin and Ether from 0.45 p/coin, to name a few. Additionally, our withdrawal process is seamless and fast. Crypto derivative clients have multiple options for funding their trading account with us, including BTC, Tether, PayPal, Credit/Debit card, Skrill, Neteller, Bank Wire transfer, and many more. Clients can also rest assured that they are trading with a regulated broker. Eightcap is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB).
There has been substantial growth in the metaverse community. How are you meeting the needs of the traders who want to make the most out of this?
The Metaverse is a fascinating concept, and if we move on to an augmented world, it changes everyday life as we know it. A virtual world that centres around a fully functioning economy built entirely using blockchain and dApps is a big concept, and we still don’t know what this world will look like. Yet, we have big names in tech already racing to claim a stake in the Metaverse. Facebook announced in June 2021 that it would be helping to bring the Metaverse to life. We already have companies such as Decentraland that can integrate crypto with its virtual world. As an award-winning crypto derivatives provider, we are providing products to our derivative traders who are enthusiastic about blockchain’s trending topics. Currently, we offer CFDs in both Decentraland and AXS, so our clients can speculate on price as news of this new Metaverse progresses.
For those who want to trade Crypto but are not sure where to start, how does Eightcap cater to their educational needs?
There’s definitely been an influx of new crypto traders that want to take advantage of volatility. We don’t just deliver the products to trade with; we are also focused on building a home for crypto derivatives traders. We have a series of webinars for new derivative traders who aren’t sure where to start. This six-part webinar series starts by explaining the fundamentals of crypto trading that everyone needs to know before entering the derivative markets and then builds on the basics with more technical aspects. We recently partnered with BK Forex to host CryptoFest, a yearly event where several professional crypto traders share their knowledge on many crypto-related topics. Additionally, we have our crypto market updates and educational articles updated regularly that explain the latest trends, price movements, and news around crypto derivatives.
How does trading Crypto derivatives differ from the more traditional asset classes?
Believe it or not, there are similarities between more traditional asset classes and crypto derivatives, like forex, for example. We have seen the establishment of rigorous support and resistance channels that form following periods of high-scale volatility. In these moments, we can see how crypto pricing behaves in the same way forex did over twenty years ago before it was dominated by institutional trading. This creates an excellent opportunity for swing trading, momentum strategies, and general technical analysis. We can even see how crypto derivatives trading mirrors stock derivative trading. What drives crypto prices on a fundamental level is the underlying technology, mass adoption and social coverage, allowing traders to analyze growth potential in crypto by studying these factors.
What does the future of crypto trading look like, and how does Eightcap fit into this vision?
With NFTs being a huge social phenomenon where a growing community has jumped on the idea of owning things such as art and music in the digital realm using crypto, this is where crypto trading could be heading next.
With further advances in technology, we are going to see blockchain applied to more industries giving traders more opportunities and cryptos to trade on. Since the introduction of DeFi last year we are also continuing to see more technology introduced that can add value that extends beyond traditional finance – not just in APY rates, but also in trading technology that can add value to derivatives trading. As cryptos start to see more sideways movement and downward trends, the emphasis on technical trading and using derivatives to do so will increase as well. Therefore, the key is to make sure that we at Eightcap evolve our offering to meet new crypto trends. That is what we are focusing on right now and will continue to do so next year.
Furthermore, working on providing resources alongside our derivative products that educate our clients is also part of how we can add to the future of crypto trading as an award-winning CFD provider.